“After realising the mess she was in, she took a rope and hang herself. Our officers are at the scene,” said the police boss.

Relatives of the couple expressed shock over the bizarre incident.

“We are still in shock. This is too painful for us. We knew they had marital issues but we never expected their conflicts to turn into what we heard,” said Mary Mwihaki, Joseph’s sister.

By the time the relatives were arriving at the couple’s home, the bodies of the four had already been picked by the police and taken to the City Mortuary.

“However, we found that she had packed her clothes before the incident took place. She had probably wanted to leave,” said Mwihaki.

She spoke after viewing the bodies of the couple and their two children.

Wanjiru’s siblings also viewed the body and confirmed that two months ago, Joseph paid his wife’s dowry in a colourful event attended by friends and relatives.

“We are still in shock. We do not know how to process this. We do not know where to start. First, the mortuary and post-mortem bills are too high; we cannot afford the cost bearing in mind that the burial can only happen after a few days which means the cost will keep rising,” said Elizabeth Maina, Wanjiru’s sister.

The family estimates that if the bodies are preserved for 10 days at the mortuary, the bill could rise to Sh40,000 which both families said they cannot foot from their meagre earnings.

The bodies will be buried in Koibatek where Mr Girau’s parents live.

Neighbours described the dead man as very polite and down to earth caretaker of an upmarket estate in Nairobi who, on a few occasions, was beaten by his wife.

“Joseph had accused his wife of cheating on him a couple of times. They were often wrangling and the wife would end up beating him. He would never fight back,” said one neighbour.

At one point, recently, the couple is said to have opted to present their issues to the chief but the man opted out at the last minute out of fear that their issues would be made public.